Building Briefs – February 24th

Marriott opens £30m Edinburgh hotel

A senior Marriott Vice President has travelled to Edinburgh to officially open a £30 million restoration project he initiated more than five years ago, remarking that Edinburgh is a world class destination for the international hotel business.

Tim Walton, Regional Vice President, Western Europe, International Development, opened city centre hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh, which with 240 rooms is one of the largest in the capital, on February 23.

The four star Courtyard Edinburgh also represents a flagship property for Marriott International given its prime location and sensitive renovation, merging heritage and contemporary style, which was completed by Edinburgh-based property development and investment company Chris Stewart Group.

Courtyard Edinburgh extends through three adjoining Georgian townhouses and into a new building connected by glassed walkways to the rear, offering a variety of views of Calton Hill, Edinburgh’s New Town and across the Firth of Forth.

The renovation cleverly mixes efficient building and design techniques with contemporary interiors and facilities include the all-day bar and restaurant, The Lantern Room, The Stevenson Room which is a boardroom for up to 16 people, designated media pods, a 24/7 market and a fitness centre. There is also free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel as well as Courtyard by Marriott’s signature GoBoard touch-screen technology to helps guests get the most out of their stay.

Aberdeen hospitality development opens its doors

The first phase of a multi-million pound hospitality sector development has opened its doors in Aberdeen.

Hampton by Hilton represents the introduction of a new brand to the North East of Scotland and the company is investing more than £34 million in creating two brand new, purpose-built hotels at Dyce, Aberdeen and Westhill, Aberdeenshire.

The move will add an additional 300+ rooms to the accommodation provision in the area, and will create more than 100 jobs across the two locations.

The Dyce facility, which offers 155 bedrooms, has now opened its doors with the 173-bed Westhill location due to come onstream in spring 2017. They join the global Hampton by Hilton family of more than 2,000 hotels spread across 17 countries.

The project has been completed by Robertson Construction Eastern Ltd on behalf of owners Bricks Capital and combines innovative off-site fabrication with traditional construction methods.

The resulting modular building has been completed in a significantly shorter build-time with the resulting high quality finish as seen in other Hampton by Hilton hotels.

Glasgow church to be reborn as flats

A grade B listed church in the west end of Glasgow is to be redeveloped into flats.

The former Lilybank Church - which for many years provided facilities for the former Laurelbank/Hutchesons School- was sold through property advisers DM Hall for more than £700,000 after a closing date.

Sod cutting ceremony marks the start of construction £13m Aberdeen city school

Work officially commenced on the new £13 million Stoneywood School with a special turf-cutting ceremony yesterday.

Councillor Angela Taylor, education and children’s services convener, performed the ceremony at the site of the former Bankhead Academy which was gutted by fire in 2012. The new state-of-the-art primary school is due for completion by Easter next year.

Funding for the new Stoneywood School was allocated in Aberdeen City Council’s five-year Capital Programme and the project follows a public consultation in which the majority of responses were in favour of both the new school and the new site.

To be delivered by Morgan Sindall, the new school will house the 434 pupils currently attending the existing Stoneywood School and will also house a nursery.

CECA celebrates new talent in Scotland’s civil engineering sector

CECA Scotland held its prestigious Annual Awards ceremony last night to recognise new talent in Scotland’s civil engineering sector.

The ceremony, at CECA Scotland’s 21st Annual Dinner in the Doubletree by Hilton, Glasgow, was attended by over five hundred leading figures in the Scottish civil engineering sector.

Awards were presented by CECA Scotland chairman, Rab Bell, and Scottish Government minister for transport and islands, Humza Yousaf MSP, who also gave a keynote address at the event.

Fighting off extremely tough competition to scoop this year’s awards were Gail Bill of I & H Brown (Most Promising Technician), Callan Francis of Farrans Construction (Most Promising Trainee Quantity Surveyor) and Jamie McCann of BAM Nuttall (Most promising New Entrant Trainee Civil Engineer).

Update on Inverness East Development Brief

A vision for the creation of new neighbourhoods to the east of Inverness took a step forward yesterday as members of The Highland Council’s City of Inverness area committee approved elements of a new draft Inverness East Development Brief.

The committee heard feedback from public workshops and an online survey held in late 2016, where residents, community groups and public sector agencies gave their views about how this area of the city could be developed. That feedback has led to guiding principles being drawn up for future development in the area that were approved by members, including:

Members also agreed a list of financial contributions that the council will seek from developers to help deliver new infrastructure including:

Members have supported the proposal of an additional lane on the southbound A9 as an early priority within the East Link project; and also agreed that the council should progress the design and contract for the construction of an additional westbound lane across the B9006 Culloden A9 over-bridge as an early priority.

The decision allows for the draft Inverness East Development Brief to be prepared in full and brought back to committee and then published for consultation later this year.

Work continues on £1.8m Highlands water infrastructure upgrade

Caledonia Water Alliance (CWA) is continuing work on a £1.8 million water infrastructure upgrade in the Highlands.

The contractor is installing a new 2.6 mile-long water main from the junction of the A837 and the B869 roads, just north of Lochinver, to the Achmelvich Water Treatment Works (WTW).

The project aims to improve water supply security to customers by reducing the risk of bursts and disruption to supply. It is part of a larger investment which will take about a year to complete.

In order to continue the scheme, a “passive” road closure, which enables entry and exit to the affected stretch of the B869, will remain in place from Monday, 27 February until 31 March. This will provide additional working hours to complete the project on time. Diversions will be in place.

Work begins On £45,000 Muckle Cross restoration

Darroch and Allan has started work to repair a iconic Elgin landmark in Moray.

The company is restoring the B-Listed Muckle Cross monument in the town centre.

The £45,000 project involves preserving the structures historic fabric, which was showing signs of significant decay and deterioration. The scheme is scheduled to be complete by the spring.

Funding for the restoration project has come from Moray Council, the Elgin Common Good Fund and the Elgin Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme (CARS).

Further funding for traditional building repairs in Elgin town centre is available through the CARS programme, with owners or occupiers able to secure grants for repairs to sash and case windows, rainwater goods, stonework, roofs, chimney repairs and other works.